Its an unfortunate but true statement, M_N. The Lebanese are suffering for Syria and Iran. And unfortunately, I think that is part of their plan to make it look like the Israelis are the aggressors on the innocent Lebanese...

It's Syria and Iran that need to be bombed, not Lebanon

It's Syria and Iran that need to be bombed, not Lebanon

Unfortunately that will cause all out war in the middle east. And I am sure the US is telling Israel to stick to Lebanon and Gaza because Iran and Syria will try to provoke the US and Iraq into the conflict if it happens.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel intensified its attacks Thursday against Lebanon, blasting Beirut's airport and a Lebanese army air base near the Syrian border, and imposing a naval blockade. More than 50 people have died in violence following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants.

 

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Warplanes punched holes in the runways of Beirut's international airport and Lebanon's main military air base 30 miles to the east, an attack that could draw the Lebanese army into the conflict.

 

Israel's army chief Brig. Gen. Dan Halutz warned that "nothing is safe" in Lebanon and said Beirut itself ? particularly Hezbollah offices and residences ? would be a target.

 

Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israeli towns and said it was using a new missile that appeared to be more advanced than previous models. One Israeli was killed and at least 12 were injured.

 

The militant group also said it would rocket the key Israeli port city of Haifa if Israel hit Beirut, a strike that would be the deepest ever into Israel by the guerrillas ? some 18 miles.

 

Two days of Israeli bombings, the heaviest air campaign against its neighbor in 24 years, had killed 47 Lebanese and wounded 103, Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalife said. Besides the Israeli civilian, eight Israeli soldiers had also been killed.

 

Both sides played a high stakes game following the capture of the two soldiers by Hezbollah: Israel sought to end Hezbollah's presence on the border, while the guerrillas insisted on trading the captured soldiers for Arab prisoners.

 

Trapped between the two sides was Lebanon, which Israel said it held responsible for Hezbollah's actions. The Lebanese government insisted it had no prior knowledge of the Hezbollah raid and did not condone it.

 

Hezbollah fighters operate with almost total autonomy in southern Lebanon, and the government has no control over their actions. But Lebanon has long resisted international pressure to disarm the group.

 

The Israeli warnings of more attacks caused panic in Beirut, and many people stayed home from work. Long lines formed at gas stations and supermarkets were packed.

 

The violence reverberated throughout the region and pushed crude oil prices to a new intraday record of $76.30 a barrel.

 

Western countries, Russia and the United Nations called for restraint and demanded the return of the soldiers. The Arab League called an emergency meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo on Saturday. The European Union criticized Israel for using what it called "disproportionate" force in its attacks and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he was planning a peace mission to the Middle East.

 

President Bush pledged to work with Israel, criticizing Hezbollah for thwarting efforts for peace in the Middle East.

 

"My attitude is this: there are a group of terrorists who want to stop the advance of peace," he said at a news conference in Germany. "The soldiers need to be returned."

 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned that Israel's Lebanon offensive "is raising our fears of a new regional war" and urged world powers to intervene.

 

Middle East satellite TV stations focused on the violence, and one station showed a man holding the head and torso of a baby killed in the Israeli bombings.

 

The eight Israeli soldiers killed so far is the highest death toll for the army in four years. Three soldiers died in the initial Hezbollah raid, and four were killed when their tank ran over a land mine Wednesday.

 

In northern Israel, thousands of civilians spent Wednesday night in underground shelters as Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel. A 40-year-old Israeli woman was killed and five people were wounded in the rocket attacks, the Israeli army reported.

 

After hitting roads and bridges in the south all day Wednesday, Israel dramatically expanded its campaign Thursday with their biggest offensive in Lebanon since Israel's 1982 invasion.

 

Israeli warships imposed a naval blockade of Lebanese ports, and the Israeli military said it could also target the Beirut-to-Damascus highway, the main land link between Lebanon and the outside world.

 

Jets dropped two bombs on the runway at the Rayak air base in the eastern Bekaa Valley, damaging it, police said. No casualties were reported.

 

Rayak, four miles west of the Syrian border, is home to the country's main military air base and is military headquarters in eastern Lebanon. Lebanon's army has no operational fixed-wing military aircraft and only operates helicopters equipped with machine guns.

 

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said his forces would not allow Hezbollah guerrillas to occupy positions along the southern Lebanese border.

 

"If the government of Lebanon fails to deploy its forces, as is expected of a sovereign government, we shall not allow Hezbollah forces to remain any further on the borders of the state of Israel," Peretz said.

 

Air force Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel said the campaign was likely Israel's largest ever in Lebanon "if you measure it in number of targets hit in one night, the complexity of the strikes." The last major offensive against Lebanon was in 1996 when about 150 Lebanese civilians were killed.

 

Travelers to and from Beirut were stranded all over the region and beyond after the airport strike. Among them was Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, who was returning from a visit to Armenia and ? like many ? was forced to make his way home through Syria.

 

Israeli warplanes blasted craters into all three runways at the airport, located by the seaside in the Lebanese capital's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, forcing incoming flights to divert to Cyprus. The main terminal of the $500 million airport remained intact.

 

The Israeli military said it struck the airport because it is "a central hub for the transfer of weapons and supplies to the Hezbollah terrorist organization."

 

It was the first time since Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon and occupation of Beirut that the airport was hit by Israel. The Israelis in 1968 sent commandos to Beirut airport, blowing up 13 passenger planes in retaliation for Arab militants firing on an Israeli airliner in Athens.

 

Details from the violence included:

 

? An Israeli missile hit Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV studios in southern Beirut, station official Ibrahim Farhat said. One person was hurt; broadcasts continued. An Al-Manar transmission antenna hit near Baalbek stopped transmissions in that area.

 

? A civic center attached to a Shiite Muslim mosque near the town of Baalbek was hit.

 

? A Lebanese family of 10 and another family of seven were killed in their homes in the village of Dweir, Lebanese officials said.

 

? Among the dead Lebanese were a soldier and a Hezbollah fighter.

 

? Hezbollah fired rockets at the northern Israeli towns of Safed, Nahariya, Kiryat Shmona, and Carmiel, saying it was using a rocket called "Thunder 1" for the first time. The missiles appeared to be more advanced than the inaccurate Katyusha ? the standard Hezbollah rocket.

 

The Israeli army said several rockets had landed more than 12 miles south of the border, showing that Hezbollah has managed to extend its missiles' range.

 

___

 

Associated Press reporter Karin Laub in Jerusalem contributed to this report

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060713/ap_on_...HNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

You don't mess with the Chosen people.

There was another thread for this...

 

 

http://www.marlinbaseball.com/forums/index...showtopic=64319

There was another thread for this...

 

Merged.

CNN Reporting: Israel bombing Beirut's Airport.

Ok, that's pushing it. You shouldn't be attacking citizen infrastructure.

 

That's breaking the rules everyone wants the US to follow so much.

CNN Reporting: Israel bombing Beirut's Airport.

Ok, that's pushing it. You shouldn't be attacking citizen infrastructure.

 

That's breaking the rules everyone wants the US to follow so much. And Hezbollah shouldn't be attacking civilians with rockets.

Israel also said it has information that the guerrillas who captured the soldiers are trying to transfer them to Iran, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said, according to The Associated Press.

 

Oh crap.

 

Israel certainly has a right to be aggressive in getting those soliders back and it shouldnt agree to any terms as that just encourages more kidnappings. Plus they cant show immediate weakness.

 

But this situation is not going to be resolved with the way things are going now. The more Israel hits citizen areas the more they play into the hands of the extremists. Does anyone actually think lobing missles is going to get Hezbollah or Hamas to cooperate? Id like to know the line of logic that leads to cooperation from this. Last week we said things were only going to get worse and thats exactly what happend.

 

Sadly I dont think the solution to this is going to be in the short term but in the long term. Things have definitely gotten much much worse.

Israel certainly has a right to be aggressive in getting those soliders back and it shouldnt agree to any terms as that just encourages more kidnappings. Plus they cant show immediate weakness.

 

Thank you F_M.

Israel certainly has a right to be aggressive in getting those soliders back and it shouldnt agree to any terms as that just encourages more kidnappings. Plus they cant show immediate weakness.

 

Thank you F_M.

first of all...those captured soldiers are probably dead by now...secondly...weakness lies in those who push have the power to determine who lives and who dies by the push of a button...it takes real men to sit down and hash things out and that is the only way this crisis will be ended...in the middle east, violence will always lead to more violence but it has to stop somewhere or else then powers will be forced to choose sides and then WW III is around the horizon

Israel certainly has a right to be aggressive in getting those soliders back and it shouldnt agree to any terms as that just encourages more kidnappings. Plus they cant show immediate weakness.

 

Thank you F_M.

first of all...those captured soldiers are probably dead by now...secondly...weakness lies in those who push have the power to determine who lives and who dies by the push of a button...it takes real men to sit down and hash things out and that is the only way this crisis will be ended...in the middle east, violence will always lead to more violence but it has to stop somewhere or else then powers will be forced to choose sides and then WW III is around the horizon :lol

 

This isn't the cold war anymore. The captured soldiers are not dead. Trust me, Mossad would know if they were dead by now.

 

 

And if WW III is around the horizon then we only have terrorism to blame for it and the Arabs.

Israel certainly has a right to be aggressive in getting those soliders back and it shouldnt agree to any terms as that just encourages more kidnappings. Plus they cant show immediate weakness.

 

Thank you F_M.

first of all...those captured soldiers are probably dead by now...secondly...weakness lies in those who push have the power to determine who lives and who dies by the push of a button...it takes real men to sit down and hash things out and that is the only way this crisis will be ended...in the middle east, violence will always lead to more violence but it has to stop somewhere or else then powers will be forced to choose sides and then WW III is around the horizon :lol

 

This isn't the cold war anymore. The captured soldiers are not dead. Trust me, Mossad would know if they were dead by now.

 

 

And if WW III is around the horizon then we only have terrorism to blame for it and the Arabs.

 

 

 

 

Israel certainly has a right to be aggressive in getting those soliders back and it shouldnt agree to any terms as that just encourages more kidnappings. Plus they cant show immediate weakness.

 

Thank you F_M.

first of all...those captured soldiers are probably dead by now...secondly...weakness lies in those who push have the power to determine who lives and who dies by the push of a button...it takes real men to sit down and hash things out and that is the only way this crisis will be ended...in the middle east, violence will always lead to more violence but it has to stop somewhere or else then powers will be forced to choose sides and then WW III is around the horizon :lol

 

This isn't the cold war anymore. The captured soldiers are not dead. Trust me, Mossad would know if they were dead by now.

 

 

And if WW III is around the horizon then we only have terrorism to blame for it and the Arabs.

i said probably...not for sure...and if you blame terrorism and arabs for WW III and cant put any blame on the US, Israel and various other countries then you have been suckin down too much of that good ol american whiskey...we arent the most feared and hated country in the world because we do nothing to interfere with other countries everyday lives

Israel certainly has a right to be aggressive in getting those soliders back and it shouldnt agree to any terms as that just encourages more kidnappings. Plus they cant show immediate weakness.

 

Thank you F_M.

first of all...those captured soldiers are probably dead by now...secondly...weakness lies in those who push have the power to determine who lives and who dies by the push of a button...it takes real men to sit down and hash things out and that is the only way this crisis will be ended...in the middle east, violence will always lead to more violence but it has to stop somewhere or else then powers will be forced to choose sides and then WW III is around the horizon :lol

 

This isn't the cold war anymore. The captured soldiers are not dead. Trust me, Mossad would know if they were dead by now.

 

 

And if WW III is around the horizon then we only have terrorism to blame for it and the Arabs.

 

 

 

 

Israel certainly has a right to be aggressive in getting those soliders back and it shouldnt agree to any terms as that just encourages more kidnappings. Plus they cant show immediate weakness.

 

Thank you F_M.

first of all...those captured soldiers are probably dead by now...secondly...weakness lies in those who push have the power to determine who lives and who dies by the push of a button...it takes real men to sit down and hash things out and that is the only way this crisis will be ended...in the middle east, violence will always lead to more violence but it has to stop somewhere or else then powers will be forced to choose sides and then WW III is around the horizon :lol

 

This isn't the cold war anymore. The captured soldiers are not dead. Trust me, Mossad would know if they were dead by now.

 

 

And if WW III is around the horizon then we only have terrorism to blame for it and the Arabs.

i said probably...not for sure...and if you blame terrorism and arabs for WW III and cant put any blame on the US, Israel and various other countries then you have been suckin down too much of that good ol american whiskey...we arent the most feared and hated country in the world because we do nothing to interfere with other countries everyday lives How are we the most hated and feared country in the world?

Israel certainly has a right to be aggressive in getting those soliders back and it shouldnt agree to any terms as that just encourages more kidnappings. Plus they cant show immediate weakness.

 

Thank you F_M.

first of all...those captured soldiers are probably dead by now...secondly...weakness lies in those who push have the power to determine who lives and who dies by the push of a button...it takes real men to sit down and hash things out and that is the only way this crisis will be ended...in the middle east, violence will always lead to more violence but it has to stop somewhere or else then powers will be forced to choose sides and then WW III is around the horizon :lol

 

This isn't the cold war anymore. The captured soldiers are not dead. Trust me, Mossad would know if they were dead by now.

 

 

And if WW III is around the horizon then we only have terrorism to blame for it and the Arabs.

 

 

 

 

Israel certainly has a right to be aggressive in getting those soliders back and it shouldnt agree to any terms as that just encourages more kidnappings. Plus they cant show immediate weakness.

 

Thank you F_M.

first of all...those captured soldiers are probably dead by now...secondly...weakness lies in those who push have the power to determine who lives and who dies by the push of a button...it takes real men to sit down and hash things out and that is the only way this crisis will be ended...in the middle east, violence will always lead to more violence but it has to stop somewhere or else then powers will be forced to choose sides and then WW III is around the horizon :lol

 

This isn't the cold war anymore. The captured soldiers are not dead. Trust me, Mossad would know if they were dead by now.

 

 

And if WW III is around the horizon then we only have terrorism to blame for it and the Arabs.

i said probably...not for sure...and if you blame terrorism and arabs for WW III and cant put any blame on the US, Israel and various other countries then you have been suckin down too much of that good ol american whiskey...we arent the most feared and hated country in the world because we do nothing to interfere with other countries everyday lives How are we the most hated and feared country in the world?

we have more bombs than anyone else, superior air force, vastly better trained and equipped army and navy=feared...we are ignorant as a healthy majority in this country couldnt tell you where canada is, we attack countries who have little if anything to do with terrorism(iraq), we have rigged elections in other countries, killed their leaders because they didnt agree with us, various things about our culture are not looked upon too kindly in some parts of the world, we are hypocrites in policy(dont ask me to name them, there is plenty out there)...

Jim, I see where you stand in saying that the US's lack of action might be a cause if a major war breaks out, but you can't say the same for Israel.

 

As you can see with this situation, aswell as many others, Israel doesn;t mess around. Everyone serves time in the army, everyone votes, every life is important, and vital. For 5000 there have been people who want Jews as a reglgion, and a race to b whiped off of the face of the earth. Israel takes, and is making the right decisions right now. After only 58 years of existance, they have been in 7 o more wars, sometimes fighting numerous countries at once.

Jim, I see where you stand in saying that the US's lack of action might be a cause if a major war breaks out, but you can't say the same for Israel.

 

As you can see with this situation, aswell as many others, Israel doesn;t mess around. Everyone serves time in the army, everyone votes, every life is important, and vital. For 5000 there have been people who want Jews as a reglgion, and a race to b whiped off of the face of the earth. Israel takes, and is making the right decisions right now. After only 58 years of existance, they have been in 7 o more wars, sometimes fighting numerous countries at once.

 

yeah...good points...i just dont think its wise to piss off every single neighboring country...because sooner or later its gonna bite israel really bad...and as long as we fully support(and im not saying that we shouldnt) israel and they keep getting themselves in trouble in the middle east, its going to come back and bite us too...

They don't get them selvs into trouble, its the neighboring counties who get themselvs into trouble. Israel PULLED OUT OF GAZA FOR PEACE! We dragged jews out of their homes, and destroyed those homes to that these terrorist groups would stop BLOWING UP KIDS ON SCHOOL BUSSES!

 

As for the US supporting israel, this is the great for the US, because as far apart as the two sides are split.. both are in favor of israel. With most of the jewish population on the democratic side, Dems support israel, and according to the bible, jews need to occupy that land for the 2nd coming of christ.. so christions dont mind. Other republicans and dems see it as important because they are the link to the middle east.

If Israel wanted to reaquire those soldiers, they'd have them back by now, I think its safe to say they have the absolute best black ops forces in the world.

 

That said, I think they are using these kidnappings as an excuse to invade Lebanon and destroy Hezbollah once and for all and expand thier buffer zone against Syria. The last Lebanese invasion was a Jabotinsky fantasy and a huge waste of Israeli and Lebanese lives, no idea why they are going about it the same way, its even worse this time with how things are deteriorating in Gaza.

If Israel wanted to reaquire those soldiers, they'd have them back by now, I think its safe to say they have the absolute best black ops forces in the world.

 

That said, I think they are using these kidnappings as an excuse to invade Lebanon and destroy Hezbollah once and for all and expand thier buffer zone against Syria. The last Lebanese invasion was a Jabotinsky fantasy and a huge waste of Israeli and Lebanese lives, no idea why they are going about it the same way, its even worse this time with how things are deteriorating in Gaza.

 

 

Israel is not in it for some dark reason, wanting to occupy more land, they are in it for security, the safty of their people. It is actually something of importance. They don't spend their time arguing over flag burning, its about lives, no halliburton, or any of that, but instead saving their nation.

They don't get them selvs into trouble, its the neighboring counties who get themselvs into trouble. Israel PULLED OUT OF GAZA FOR PEACE! We dragged jews out of their homes, and destroyed those homes to that these terrorist groups would stop BLOWING UP KIDS ON SCHOOL BUSSES!

 

As for the US supporting israel, this is the great for the US, because as far apart as the two sides are split.. both are in favor of israel. With most of the jewish population on the democratic side, Dems support israel, and according to the bible, jews need to occupy that land for the 2nd coming of christ.. so christions dont mind. Other republicans and dems see it as important because they are the link to the middle east.

 

come on...israel has just as much if not more blood on their hands than their neighboring countries do...and why would jews need to occupy that land for the second coming of christ? not to go into semantics but they believed jesus to be a prophet only(and a lousy one at that)...thats why the jewish bible is the old testament while christians believed jesus was a savior and therefore we saw a more nicer god in the new testament

 

If Israel wanted to reaquire those soldiers, they'd have them back by now, I think its safe to say they have the absolute best black ops forces in the world.

 

That said, I think they are using these kidnappings as an excuse to invade Lebanon and destroy Hezbollah once and for all and expand thier buffer zone against Syria. The last Lebanese invasion was a Jabotinsky fantasy and a huge waste of Israeli and Lebanese lives, no idea why they are going about it the same way, its even worse this time with how things are deteriorating in Gaza.

 

agreed

They don't get them selvs into trouble, its the neighboring counties who get themselvs into trouble. Israel PULLED OUT OF GAZA FOR PEACE! We dragged jews out of their homes, and destroyed those homes to that these terrorist groups would stop BLOWING UP KIDS ON SCHOOL BUSSES!

 

As for the US supporting israel, this is the great for the US, because as far apart as the two sides are split.. both are in favor of israel. With most of the jewish population on the democratic side, Dems support israel, and according to the bible, jews need to occupy that land for the 2nd coming of christ.. so christions dont mind. Other republicans and dems see it as important because they are the link to the middle east.

 

come on...israel has just as much if not more blood on their hands than their neighboring countries do...and why would jews need to occupy that land for the second coming of christ? not to go into semantics but they believed jesus to be a prophet only(and a lousy one at that)...thats why the jewish bible is the old testament while christians believed jesus was a savior and therefore we saw a more nicer god in the new testament

 

You read it wrong.. lol.. I was saying that christain conservitives support israel as a state because the bible says that for the 2nd coming of christ the jews need to occupy the land, not that the just want christ.. lol.. Im jewish, lol.. I was saying that about how israel as a nation brings dems and reps to agree on something..

 

The fighting over the holy books is so pointless.. The old testement is like chaps 1-10, the bible is chaps 1-12, and the koran is 1-14.. All based around peace, its just that 2 of 3 say that their prophet already came.. lol..

come on...israel has just as much if not more blood on their hands than their neighboring countries do...and why would jews need to occupy that land for the second coming of christ? not to go into semantics but they believed jesus to be a prophet only(and a lousy one at that)...thats why the jewish bible is the old testament while christians believed jesus was a savior and therefore we saw a more nicer god in the new testament

 

Time Wrecker was referring to the evangelical line of belief. As he just said.

If Israel wanted to reaquire those soldiers, they'd have them back by now, I think its safe to say they have the absolute best black ops forces in the world.

 

That said, I think they are using these kidnappings as an excuse to invade Lebanon and destroy Hezbollah once and for all and expand thier buffer zone against Syria. The last Lebanese invasion was a Jabotinsky fantasy and a huge waste of Israeli and Lebanese lives, no idea why they are going about it the same way, its even worse this time with how things are deteriorating in Gaza.

 

 

Israel is not in it for some dark reason, wanting to occupy more land, they are in it for security, the safty of their people. It is actually something of importance. They don't spend their time arguing over flag burning, its about lives, no halliburton, or any of that, but instead saving their nation.

 

We essentially said the same thing, only you inferred that I said it was for some dark, ulterior motive. Occupying Lebanon, in theory, enhances thier security by letting them pursue Hezbollah and giving their northern settlements and ports a buffer zone. I think what you disagree with me is the notion that Israel is using a rescue mission of a few soldiers as a smoke screen to achieve a greater security objective.